1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a patient transport system and, more particularly, to a patient transport system for transferring an immobile patient from a bed to a gurney or from a gurney to a bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Patient transport systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,507,963 and 6,701,546, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
It appears to be widely accepted that a major, if not the major, work related complaint among nurses and hospital nursing staff is back injuries caused by lifting patients and getting them in and out of a bed and to or from a gurney, or a stretcher, as it is commonly called. A survey of existing practices and techniques suggests that there is no widely adopted simple and safe method of transferring patients from a bed to a gurney or visa versa, without lifting them. There are hoist-type lifts where the patient is suspended in a sling. However, the sling must be first manipulated under the patient and the patient must be physically lifted, changing the shape of the body and applying pressures different from those existing on the patient when lying prone in bed. There are also roller boards which are inserted partially under the patient and then the patient is pulled onto the roller board. Again, the patient must be manipulated to allow the board to be inserted and then the body is pulled onto the board. In the end, the patient ends up on the board, not on the gurney or the bed. An additional disadvantage of the roller board is that either the patient must cooperate with the transferor or more than one transferor is required to affect the transfer. Patients have also been known to drop off the roller boards and to land on the floor between the bed and the gurney. U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,339 titled “Patient Transport System”, which is hereby incorporated by reference, solves this age-old problem of transferring patients from a bed or a gurney and visa versa. In particular, this patent is directed to an apparatus for transporting a patient and includes a base, a patient supporting member attached to the base, a conveyor attached to the base and a removable sheet. In operation, an end of the sheet which is attached to the conveyor is displaced by rotation of a roller, thereby moving the patient from the bed to the gurney or visa versa. However, in accordance with this patent, the roller must remain affixed to the bed or gurney or the complete conveyor must be removed from the bed or the gurney when not in use. This results in a problem of storing the conveyor in a hospital room and transporting the conveyor when it is not attached to the bed or gurney.
Referring to FIGS. 1-6, which are prior art, a bed 10 includes a bed frame 12 having a headboard 14, a baseboard 16, legs 18 attached to the headboard 14, and to the baseboard 16, and a mattress supporting frame 20 attached to the headboard 14, the baseboard 16, and the legs 18. A mattress 22 (FIG. 2) is supported by the mattress supporting frame 20 (FIG. 1). A gurney or stretcher 30, which is positioned directly adjacent to a side 31 of the mattress 20 of the bed 10 includes a frame 32 having wheels 34 attached thereto. It should be noted that the term gurney and stretcher are used interchangeably herein. A patient supporting member 36 is supported by the frame 32. Both the mattress 20 and the patient supporting member 36 extend in a first longitudinal direction shown by the arrow X.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, both the bed 10 and the gurney 30 have a conveyor 40 attached thereto. Each conveyor 40 includes a roller 42 having two ends or end portions 43a, 43b. Each end portion 43a, 43b is rotatably received by or rotatably coupled to a respective bearing member 44. Thus, the bearing members 44 are positioned near opposite ends of the roller 42. A handle 46 may be used to rotate either of the rollers 42. Each bearing member 44 includes a low-friction bearing member and a bearing housing 48. Roller 42, bearing member 44, handle 46 and a coupling 47 used with the handle 46, are similar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,266, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Each housing 48 includes an attaching member plate 49 attached to the gurney 30 or bed 10, either by welding a plate 49 to the gurney frame 32 or the bed frame 12 or by fastening a plate 49 to the gurney frame 32 or to the bed frame 12, through fasteners such as screws. For purposes of this discussion, the bed frame 12 and the gurney frame 32 are each considered to be a base for a patient support system.
A sheet, such as bed sheet 80, is releasably attached to a roller 42. An end 81a of the bed sheet 80 is releasably attached to the roller 42. The opposite end 81b of the sheet 80 is unsecured and is a free end. A conveyor 40 is adapted to move the sheet 80, and in turn, a patient positioned on the sheet 80, in a second longitudinal direction shown by arrow Y, which is transverse to the first longitudinal direction shown by arrow X. By positioning a patient upon the sheet 80, then by rotation of one roller 40, the sheet is moved laterally across the gurney 30 and the bed 10 to move a patient either from the gurney 30 to the bed 10 or from the bed 10 to the gurney 30.
FIGS. 3-6 illustrate another prior art embodiment, whereby the bearing member 144 is removably attached to the headboard 114. The bearing member 144 could just as well be attached to the baseboard (not shown). Directing attention to FIG. 6, the bearing member 144 includes a first leg 146 and a second L-shaped leg 148 integrally attached thereto, which defines an upwardly facing, open ended slot 150 for receiving the end portions of a roller 142. A tab 152 protrudes or extends from the leg 146 dividing the leg 146 into two sections. A locking recess 154 is defined by a C-shaped surface 156 defined in the leg 148 and a portion of an inner surface 158 of leg 148. A lower end of the tab 152 defines an upper portion of the C-shaped surface 156. The bearing member 144 is made of a polymer material, such as high-density polyethylene or ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. Each bearing member 144 is secured to the bed by fasteners which pass through holes 170 defined in the leg 146 or in any other manner.
Directing attention to FIGS. 3-5, the bearing member 144 is removably secured to a bed frame 214 through tubes 200 attached to the frame. The tubes 200 may already be provided adjacent to the four corners of the bed frame 214 and may, in the alternate, be used as intravenous (IV) tube holders which can be used to support posts that hold bags supplying IV drugs to a patient.
However, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bearing holder 202 has an elongated post 204 adapted to be received by the tube 200. The post 204 may include a rectangular upper portion 204a and a lower cylindrical portion 204b positioned in the tube 200. A plastic spacer block 208 is secured to the upper portion 204a of the post 204. The bearing member 144 is then secured to the post 204 and spacer block 208 by bolts 210. The elongated post 204 may have, at one end, a slot 205 used to engage a pin 206 within the tube 200.
However, the structure for supporting the roller 40 may be obtrusive if left upon the bed and, as a result, a design is needed whereby the conveyor 40 may be less obtrusive when it is not in use.